GRAPH: What did we get for our trillions in Federal education spending?

[galegregory97comcast]

IT WAS THERE PAY ONLY LOL

[CASTILLOM1]

That smile at the end!!!! Gotta love it.

[immayhem]

Suggested Reading: The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto.

[shooter348]

Why do we have a federal department of education when every state already has their own state department of education? Why pay for duplicate government offices?

[Rys2sense]

exactly

[herbs814]

duplicate government offices just give politicians more ability to buy favors with cushy bureaucratic jobs. big government serves the interest of big government. big education serves the teachers' unions. none of this bureaucratic spending helps the children's education, certainly not more than leaving that money in the hands of parents would.

[whoo689]

So the first college class after those requirements were passed didn't have much reason to even TAKE all the extra school requirements. So it was a waste.  But did gov't DECENTRALIZE and let local school districts decide their OWN curriculums? Not exactly. They just kept pushing more and more regulations.

It's sad, really. Too many people are afraid of the truth. Bureaucrats will scapegoat anyone as long as they deflect attention from their own mistakes.

[whoo689]

So it fits the gov't disaster model perfectly. Government officials created a problem out of thin air, got enough media attention and 'evidence' to claim it ACTUALLY exists, fooled the people into believing it, and passed laws to create new agencies, regulations and spending TO FIGHT A PROBLEM THAT WASN'T THERE!! How much worse could students in the 1950s have been in school compared to those in the public systme today? I mean, really.

[whoo689]

What's even more ironic is that the first gov't interventions in education in the 1940s and 50s were designed merely to increase access for poorer students, NOT overhaul the actual teaching itself. Then the feds started thinking "In order to produce students that can win the space race, we have to require them to take all this crap that won't affect them later in life, so they can be experts at science and math and work for the gov't." Of course, 20 years later, we pretty much won the race.

[whoo689]

The ironic thing is that federal government involvement in healthcare got started at a time when American children were WELL-EDUCATED, esp. compared to those from public schools today. What was the problem?? Why did we need some federal takeover or overhaul? It should've just been Education and Welfare, not HEW (Eisenhower's agency). The DOE never had a legitimate reason for existing! Kids were doing FINE in schools. We had the brightest minds in the world. Now it's hard to say.

[whoo689]

Remember Cash for Clunkers? The idiot Transportation Secretary actually said it was "a success." By what standard?? Just that it was popular and the money was given out quickly? Nevermind the fact that less than 1% of the total cars on the road would even be replaced thanks to this program.

[Federalist306]

Of course it's a failure, look who runs it! The federal government is a failure at doing even the most basic things, and the more power they are given, the more it will fail! FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!!!!!!

[whoo689]

Bush signed the bill, but guess who started it. TED KENNEDY! Yes, the "liberal lion" himself who's championed so many other destructive economic causes is the one behind this disastrous bill. So while Bush deserves some blame for signing it, the real blame should be on Kennedy for even coming up with that nonsense in the first place.

[Snowflake70]

Oh, teacher pick me ! ! !

Where did the actual money spent go? Precisely.

What was the money "supposed to go for / to?" Who said the money was needed there for "that" What was their basis (you know empirical substantiation / evidence) to believe the money would cause the opposite effect [ or positive it eventually did [which was zero or negative]?

Did I do good teacher?

Oh and who do I direct these questions to? I'm not a parent but I AM a taxpayer.

[FkyGGGG]

AWESOME! im Sharing this!

[freesk8]

Not only is federal involvement in education counter-productive to the goal of improving the education of our children, federal involvement in education is UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

All members of congress who have voted for any regulation that has to do with education have violated their oaths of office "to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the US."

They all deserve our contempt.

[0bodobod0]

I would say there's actually an inverse relationship between government spending and societal progress.

[ILovelisanova]

PBS did a special on this. Their conclusion was more free market capitalism in our school system

[Scoforever]

End the department of education.

[187cisoULcRUNcHER]

I wish everyone could see this.THX for all your hard work Shelly.